One of Us: Jacksonville man shaved his stache to grow charity cash
By Charlie Patton
Sean Collins believes his face looks better with a beard.
“I feel naked when I don’t have it,” said Collins, the founder of Jacksonville’s Beardsmith Society.
But this month the 26-year-old Collins took a razor in hand and publicly removed all his facial hair, not just his beard, but his mustache as well.
He did it for a good cause: Movember, a fundraising campaign for men’s health organizations that was started in Australia in 2003. Mo is Australian slang for mustache.
By last year, Movember had grown to the point where about $42 million was raised worldwide. Funds raised in the U.S. went to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and to the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s Livestrong program.
Collins did his best to launch a Jacksonville Movember initiative last year. But as far as he could determine, there were only about 20 participants who raised about $1,200 locally, although other individuals in Jacksonville could have been participating without his knowledge.
This year, he set up a Jacksonville website, www.movemberjax.com, on which 169 people have registered. Many are part of teams such as Collins’ Jax Stache team, which has about 60 members. So far, giving by those involved in the Movemberjax group totals more than $5,000.
“We’ve tried to make it more about community involvement,” Collins said.
The gimmick behind Movember is that participants agree to go clean shaven at the beginning of the month and then regrow a mustache during the month. Some women participate by wearing fake mustaches at Movember events. The idea is to make the mustache the same sort of potent symbol that the pink ribbon has become in the battle against breast cancer.
Collins, a University of North Florida graduate who is a website designer and developer, said the work involved in organizing Movember might well have left him completely hairless without the help of his girlfriend, Sarah Butsch.
“If it weren’t for her, I would probably have pulled out all the hair on my head,” he said.
Among the events still on the Movember calendar are a Movember bake sale during Saturday’s Riverside WineFest (6 to 9 p.m. in Five Points); Sunday’s Jax Rollergirls Brawl for Justice at 6:30 p.m. at the Mandarin Skate Station; and a free party from 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 24, at Intuition Ale Works Tap Room at 720 King St.
Movember will wrap up Saturday, Dec. 4, with a grooming party at 5 p.m. at Hawthorn Salon in Five Points followed by an awards party at 7 p.m. at The Loft, 925 King St.
charlie.patton@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4413
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
sean making headlines for movember!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
the selby: eileen & mark in venice, ca
this couple is effortlessly chic. i LOVE the way they display/store their clothes and those shorts are adorable! their outdoor bike/surf lifestyle is well reflected throughout their home through photography, comfortable, casual furniture, lots of plants and an outdoor shower. i could easily live here! i also love the pizza w/ eggs idea. click here for the full tour.
movember jax events: past & present
sean did some great recaps of past movember events on the jax beard blog last night. read about our wild zero movie screening, craft night at underbelly & movember shaving party.
coming up . . .
November 13 @ Mandarin Presbyterian Church
The 31st Annual Native Sun Mandarin Run will donate $1 per entry to Movember Jax! Choose from a 5K, 10K or 1-Mile Fun Run for Kids. Registration includes a free shirt and post-race brunch provided by Native Sun Natural Foods Market. For details on the race CLICK HERE. *We also need 20 Movember volunteers to help with water tables along the course, email sean@jaxbeard.com if you’re interested.
November 20 @ Five Points
Join hundreds of your closest friends and more than 300 of their favorite wines in the streets of Five Points for the Riverside Wine Festival. $30 gets you an engraved wine glass, $5 coupon & all the wine you can drink! Stop by the Movember Bake Sale table for your chocolate fix from Sweet n Flour & The Sugar Tryst aka Marisa & Kelly Mac! Click here to see their menu.
November 21 @ Mandarin Skate Station
Join us as we cheer on our Mo Sistas in the Jacksonville Rollergirls Brawl for Justice Derby where our two hometown teams First Coast Fatales & River City Rat Pack will battle it out. We’ll have a Movember table to spread the word & collect donations.
November 24 @ Intuition Ale Works
Join Intuition Ale Works for a Stache Bash in their brand new Tap Room! Enjoy moustache competitions, wood-fired pizzas from Pele’s Fire Catering, a stache photo booth, and more. It’s the day before Thanksgiving and you probably don’t have to work the next day - so no excuses! Fifty-cents from every pint sold in their Tap Room during the month will benefit Movember!
December 4 @ Hawthorn Salon
Join your fellow MoBros and MoSistas as they get ready for the Movember Awards Party tonight! Enjoy grooming by the staff at Hawthorn Salon while you sip on some Intuition Ale Works beer & get your photo taken — costume & all!
December 4 @ The Loft
This is it! Show off your best stache for a chance to win the title of Man of Movember! There will also be prizes for Miss Movember, the Lame Mo, Best Mo Character, Mo Bro & Mo Sista, The Ultimate Mo & Team Mo Bro. Learn more about the categories & prizes here. Judges will be Tony Allegretti from Wingard Creative, and Ben Davis & Cari Sanchez-Potter of Intuition Ale Works! After the contest enjoy drink specials and tunes from DJ Nick Fresh.
For full details on event times, cost, etc. see the Movember Jax website.
the perfect size
some people might think this looks cramped, but i love it! it looks like a cozy little spot for a guest to stay. they can open the window, sit on the bed & look in the mirror to do their make up, stash their luggage under the bed & cozy up under all the blankets. i wish i had a tiny room in my house! haha
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
riverside wine fest & movember bake sale!
The 8th Annual Riverside Wine Festival is next Saturday, November 20! Not only is it a GREAT event in itself ($30 donation for all-you-can-drink wine!), we'll have a Movember Bake Sale table set up with all sorts of delicious goodies from Sweet n Flour & The Sugar Tryst aka Marisa & Kelly Mac :) Check out these menus . . .
Sweet n Flour:
Chocolate Butter Shortbreads with Pomegranate or Blackberry Cream
Golden Chocolate Nuggets with Macadamias, Peanuts & Almonds
Vanilla Almond Cupcakes with Salted Burnt Caramel Buttercream
Root Beer Bundt Mini Cakes
The Sugar Tryst:
Lemon Cupcakes with a Raspberry Buttercream
Chocolate Cupcakes with Pretzels and Caramel
Lemon Moustache Sugar Cookies
Meringue Cookies with Chocolate Chips and Walnuts/Pecans
Chocolate Dipped Pretzels with Candy Bar Pieces
Peanut Butter Cluster Brownies
Assorted Rice Crispy Treats
100% of the bake sale proceeds will benefit Movember Jax! Hope to see you there!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
pecha kucha 11 is tonight!
November 9, 2010
5 Points Theatre in Riverside
Doors open at 6:00; Presentations begin at 7:00
Pecha Kucha is a presentation format featuring passionate presenters showcasing their talent or knowledge to you...the crowd. They only have 20 slides that last 20 seconds, which makes for good times, good laughs, and great fall line-up:
* Kelly MacDonald
* Kenny Harper
* Violet "The Awful Waffle" Skinner
* Sean Collins - talking about Movember!
* Special Improv Pecha Kucha Presentation
Pecha Kucha is a FREE event
$3.50 Beer $4.50 Wine
Monday, November 8, 2010
found kittens at work
a co-worker found these little guys in the parking lot of our baymeadows store. if you or anyone you know is interested in taking or fostering them, let me know!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
MOvember Art Walk 11/3
Check out the Movember Art Show @ TACII at 229 Hogan Street: Enjoy great art, free beer courtesy of Intuition Ale Works and music by Dennis Eusebio; Visit our Movember Info Booth & Craft Table in Hemming Plaza to make your own mustache; Grab something sweet at our Movember Bake Sale outside of Snyder Church; Buy some mustache-themed art from the AIGA Jacksonville Atomic Sketch event in the Old Library & keep an eye out for the Jacksonville Rollergirls passing out Movember materials and mustaches.
ABOUT MOVEMBER
Mo, slang for moustache in Australia, and November come together each year to form Movember, a worldwide charity working to change the face of men’s health — literally. The rules are simple, Mo Bros start Movember 1st clean-shaven and grow a moustache for 30 days. The stache becomes the “pink ribbon” for men’s cancers and the way by which awareness and funds are raised. Mo Sistas can also collect donations online in support of their Mo Bros. Over $42 million was raised last year — US donations benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG, the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
ABOUT MOVEMBER JAX
Learn more about local Movember events by visiting the Movember Jax website or following us on facebook - better yet, register online as part of the Movember Jax Network & help us change the face of men's health by raising funds & awareness!
